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Justice Stephen Breyer, Zaha Hadid join Pritzker Prize jury

September 14, 2011 | 9:43
am

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will join the jury for the Pritzker Prize, architecture's top honor, Pritzker officials announced this morning. Joining Breyer on the eight-person jury will be architect Zaha Hadid, who won the prize in 2004.

Breyer reportedly has an avid interest in contemporary architecture, and in courthouse design in particular; he wrote the forward for the 2006 book "Celebrating the Courthouse: A Guide for Architects, Their Clients, and the Public." Still, he's a surprising choice. Typically, Pritzker jurors have been practicing architects (often Pritzker laureates, such as Hadid), critics or academics. It'll be fascinating to see how his presence changes the tenor of Pritzker deliberations or even the choice of winners.

The Pritzker Prize, established in 1979, is announced in early spring each year. This year's winner is the Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura.